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Reflections from the Performers: Lucas and Zara, Book 2 Recital

November 21, 2016 By Diane Slone

Book 2 Cello Recital

By Lucas Cheng

Hello everyone! I had been waiting to do my cello recital for many months and finally on 22nd October 2016, it happened! I was very excited, nervous, happy and ready for this special event.

It was little different from my other recitals as I got the chance to play a few duets with my cello mate Zara. Not only did these duets sound awesome, they were also interesting to learn and fun to play. My favorite pieces were Musette – where I played the harmony part and also the many Twinkle variations in which Zara and I both took turns to play the theme and harmony.

We will be playing these duets again during musical moment on 12th Nov so if you happen to be around, come listen to us!!

A big thank you to everyone who helped and came to my recital … Ms Sandra, my mum, my brother, Zara’s mum and dad, Mr Jason, Ms Elizabeth, Ms Lan and Ms Diane.

The Recital

On October 22 the music school had a recital in the Vine. It was a book two recital. The players where Lucas and Zara. All our family and teachers were there.

(Zara’s point of view)

When Lucas and I played together we really sounded like one cello. I especially enjoyed it when Lucas and I where playing the harmony and melody pieces. We really sounded nice together.

I have played some recitals by my self which is nice but I think I prefer to play with 2 people. When you play with 2 people I think if one person plays the harmony and the other the melody, together they sound very emotional.

When you play with the piano it is also a good sound, because the piano keeps the beat and the cello(s) mostly always plays the harmony. That is what we did in the recital and it sounded great.

Reflections from the Performers: Naphat and Nithit, Book 3 Recital

November 21, 2016 By Diane Slone

When I heard Ms Yuko said, “We are going to have book 3 recital”, I was extremely happy because I was going to play with Naphat, my sister. It was easy to practice because we had to do it once a day every song. The hard part was we had to play duet. We had to listen to each other and play at the same speed.

On the recital day, I tried my best to play in a nice tune. The duet part was quite good. I was delighted because I played very well.

In the end, I was very excited because I was going to get an ice cream after the book 3 recital. I had a great day!

by Nithit

REFLECTION FOR THE BOOK 3 RECITAL

BY: NAPHAT CHANPONGSANG

When I started knowing more about the violin book 3 recital, I was very excited because I knew that it was going to be a very fun chance for me to play a duet with my brother Nithit. The year before when I had my book 2 recital, I did not really practice the duets from face to face. We had only a few practices together unlike this book recital with my brother. I could practice face to face every day with him.

Before the recital, I had to practice all the pieces ready for the book recital. There were altogether 9 pieces that we had to play. There were

Martini Gavotte (duet)
Bach Minuet (duet)
Gavotte in G Minor (Bach) By Naphat
Humoresque (Dvorak) By Nithit
Gavotte (Becker) By Nithit
Gavotte in D Major (Bach) By Naphat
Bach Bourée(together)
Gossec Gavotte (together)
Twinkle Variations (duet)

It was a hard job as I had to find all my precious time managing all my school home works and projects and practicing for my coming up assessments and book recital. Every day when I practiced, I felt like it was the real recital. I had to be serious and tried not to laugh when Nithit and I accidentally played something funny. In the end, it was a success when we were playing those pieces in the book 3 recital day.

I felt very proud of myself and my brother as without our hard work, we would not have been successful for our book 3 recital. I would also like to thank my mum and Ms. Yuko for helping me and my brother practice and polish the pieces for the recital.

THANK YOU FOR LOOKING AT MY RECITAL REFLECTION BYE!!!!!!!

From the Performer: Melanie Au, Book 7 Recital

October 28, 2016 By Diane Slone

by Melanie Au

I think the first half was better than the second half. I was more concentrated with the songs in the beginning that afterwards because I was getting more and more tired. But overall it was okay (I think). For the second half, even though I took a rest before starting again I was still tired. The worst one was the Bach a minor 3rd movement because I was exhausted from standing for so long. I’m not sure what or how you think it was but I think it was not as good as I thought it would be.

Nicole’s experience with Iskandar Wdjaja

October 27, 2016 By Diane Slone

At the Suzuki convention this summer in Bali, I had a masterclass with Iskandar Wdjaja. It was a fun experience and I learnt a lot.

The first thing I noticed when I walked into the masterclass was that there were other people too. There were a least a dozen people watching the person playing, so I was pretty nervous. When it was my turn, I played Fiocco Allegro. He gave me some advice and we went through the piece together a few times, with some more tips along the way.

It was definitely an enriching class and I feel a lot more confident playing that piece now. Mr Wdjaja was a good teacher and was very helpful and encouraging.

*****************

Iskandar Wdjaja is giving a recital in Hong Kong!

His program even includes a piece from the Suzuki repertoire…the Handel Sonata No. 4 in D major that’s in Book 6!

Here is the information so that you can take advantage of this amazing opportunity:

http://www.pphk.org/concerts/recitals/iskandar-widjaja/

Faculty Retreat…or “how we spent our day off”

October 5, 2016 By Diane Slone

by Ms. Elizabeth and Ms. Sandra

Last weekend, the KSMA faculty (and a very furry stowaway belonging to Ms. Diane) spent an entire day hard at work…on their day off! Early in the morning, the tireless faculty boarded a lovely junk boat to cruise toward Lamma Island. The day was tough from the start, we ate muffins, croissants, and fresh fruit. Whew…that was hard work! Then, we spent some time soaking in the sun, swimming in the ocean, and enjoying each other’s company.

After some quick power naps, it was actually time to get to work. Ms. Diane lead the group in some discussions about our personality types and the ways we relate interpersonally. We spent time reading about ourselves and sharing experiences from our teaching lives. We learned about each other and what a complex and diverse faculty we have! Well, that was enough work to earn a banana boat ride…so we did!

Ms. Sandra, Ms. Monica, Ms. Elizabeth, and Mr. Graham all went out for a banana boat ride where there wasn’t any fun at all. No, it was a very serious endeavor. You can tell from the pictures that no one had any fun.

Back on boat, Mr. Graham and Ms. Elizabeth decided to live on the wild side for a little bit and jump off the top of the boat into the ocean. Everyone thought they would be safe and dry on the boat…think again! Ms. Elizabeth and Mr. Graham worked hard to splash everyone standing on the boat taking pictures.

We spent more time eating and delicious chicken, samosas, and spring rolls were among the wonderful spread of food we had. It was nearly time to head back to Central, so we took one last dip in the ocean, being very careful to avoid any jellyfish, and got on the boat to head back home.

On the ride back to Central, we spent more time together as a faculty working to brainstorm ideas for the upcoming year. All too soon, we were back at the Central pier and our very long, tiresome day was at a close. We had such a great time working and playing together for the whole day, and we hope you enjoyed the pictures and story too!

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